K224 / K225 / 2027

Nutrition in humans

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Glucose enters a liver cell and is converted into glycogen. Which process does this illustrate?

  1. Assimilation, because an absorbed nutrient is made into a body substance.
  2. Absorption, because glucose has moved from the blood into a liver cell to be stored.
  3. Egestion, because a large molecule is formed.
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Assimilation, because an absorbed nutrient is made into a body substance.

The liver uses glucose to synthesise glycogen for storage.

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Which sequence correctly describes starch digestion?

  1. Amylase makes maltose, then maltase makes glucose.
  2. Lipase turns starch into amino acids.
  3. Bile emulsifies starch, then pancreatic lipase breaks it into glucose.
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Amylase makes maltose, then maltase makes glucose.

Identify both substrates and products: starch to maltose, then maltose to glucose.

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Which row correctly gives an enzyme, where it acts and its product?

  1. Lipase, mouth, glycerol and amino acids
  2. Protease, stomach, polypeptides
  3. Amylase, stomach, maltose
  4. Maltase, small intestine, starch
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Protease, stomach, polypeptides

Pepsin, a protease, begins protein digestion in the stomach, producing shorter polypeptides.

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Which route and process are correctly paired?

  1. Assimilation: removal of undigested food through the anus.
  2. Hepatic portal vein: nutrient-rich blood from the small intestine to the liver.
  3. Bile duct: glucose-rich blood from the intestine to the liver.
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Hepatic portal vein: nutrient-rich blood from the small intestine to the liver.

Glucose can then be assimilated, for example by conversion to glycogen in liver cells.

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Which statement correctly distinguishes liver and kidney functions?

  1. The liver stores excess amino acids as protein; the kidneys turn them into urea.
  2. The liver forms urea; the kidneys remove it from blood into urine.
  3. The kidney makes bile and the liver stores urine.
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The liver forms urea; the kidneys remove it from blood into urine.

Formation and excretion occur in different organs, connected by transport in blood.

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A person eats far more protein than they need. What happens to the excess amino acids?

  1. They are egested in faeces because the body cannot use them
  2. The liver deaminates them and turns the nitrogen into urea
  3. The kidneys turn them into urea before they reach the liver
  4. The liver stores them in its cells as glycogen for later use
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The liver deaminates them and turns the nitrogen into urea

The amino group is removed and made into urea, which the kidneys excrete.

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Which description contains all parts of the hormone definition?

  1. Any substance in the blood that supplies energy.
  2. An enzyme made by a gland and carried down a duct to the gut, where it digests food.
  3. A chemical made by a gland, carried by blood and altering specific target-organ activity.
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A chemical made by a gland, carried by blood and altering specific target-organ activity.

Production, transport and target effect are all included.

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Which response directly helps correct low blood glucose?

  1. Glucagon promotes liver glycogen breakdown and glucose release.
  2. Insulin promotes conversion of blood glucose to glycogen.
  3. Glucagon makes the pancreas release its stored glycogen into the blood.
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Glucagon promotes liver glycogen breakdown and glucose release.

The liver releases glucose, raising blood glucose towards its normal range.

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After a meal, a person's blood glucose rises from 5 to 8 mmol/dm3 and returns to 5 within two hours. Which hormone mainly brings it back down, and how?

  1. Insulin, by making liver cells convert glucose to glycogen
  2. Adrenaline, by making the kidneys excrete the extra glucose
  3. Insulin, by making liver cells break glycogen down to glucose
  4. Glucagon, by making liver cells convert glucose to glycogen
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Insulin, by making liver cells convert glucose to glycogen

Insulin is released when glucose rises and causes the liver to store glucose as glycogen.

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Which statement about a sedentary lifestyle is accurate?

  1. It proves that someone has type 2 diabetes.
  2. It decides who develops type 2 diabetes, whatever their genes.
  3. It raises the risk but does not decide who develops it.
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It raises the risk but does not decide who develops it.

Risk describes likelihood rather than certainty. Regular activity is one broad approach used in prevention and management.

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Write a short answer, then compare it with a sample and check for missing ideas.

Question 1 of 8

Follow food and secretions

5 marks

Trace food from mouth to anus, naming the duodenum and ileum. Explain the roles of salivary glands, pancreas, liver and gallbladder without placing them in the route taken by food. Distinguish absorption from assimilation. [5]

Separate the canal, its supporting organs and the use of absorbed nutrients.

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